Surprises
by StarSplit144
Summary: Let’s just say I’m borrowing Hailey to knock some sense into Sam and Jack. Some Pete bashing. SamJack as always. Finished, though I may edit some day when I have more time.
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: Let's just say I'm borrowing Hailey to knock some sense into Sam and Jack. Some Pete bashing. SamJack as always. _

_Spoilers: Affinity and anything before to be safe. Its AU so please don't nitpick about differences. And speaking of AU, Janet is perfectly alive and well in mine._

_Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm only borrowing them in my boredom. SG-23 however is mine apart from Hailey._

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**Prologue**

She sat nervously in the waiting room. Finally the doctor came out, and motioned for her to come in. She sat down in the doctor's office and waited. The doctor sat down across from her.

"I'm afraid that there's no doubt about it. You're almost two months pregnant." She closed her eyes. She had had a pretty good idea that it was coming, but the reality still really complicated her life. She barely listened to what the doctor had to say. She thanked her, and headed back to her apartment.

Once in the privacy of her bedroom, she finally let herself drop the façade, and collapsed on her bed. Two months. Not his then. They had broken up two months ago, and right before that, he had been gone for three months. But with him ruled out, she was even more confused. There hadn't been anyone else since they had broken up.

The three months he had been gone were the reason that she had ended it. Being alone for three months had made her realize how controlling he had always been, and how much of her life she had given up to please him. The night that he had returned, she had told him that they were finished. The memory of that night still scared her. She had never seen him like that before. He had paced around, ranting at her for close to an hour before he had told her to get out of his life. She had gotten in her car and simply driven.

She thought back to that night. Why were her memories so hazy? She remembered one of her older friends had mentioned that he was having a house party. Had she gone to that? Yes. The thought of being completely drunk had sounded very appealing right about then. She strained her memory. It had been mostly older people there, but what was new there. When you skipped grades, you got used to being the youngest. But there had been people there who were much older. In their mid twenties at least, maybe older. She groaned. There was no other explanation. She was carrying the child of some guy who she didn't have a chance of remembering. And she had no idea what to do.

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_So this'll be about 11 chapters, and I'll try to post every few days, but no promises. Please please review. It will make me very happy._


	2. Chapter 2

_Some Hailey stuff here. I'll get to SG-1 after one more chapter. Thank you to all who reviewed, and I'm glad to see I made it on so many story alert lists. Enjoy, and please review. I'll probably post again on Monday._

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**Chapter 1**

Lieutenant Jennifer Hailey stepped out of the Stargate and swept the area with her P-90.

"Clear!" she called, and heard the other three members of SG-23 do the same.

"So where are we headed?" asked major Nabb.

"MALP picked up signs of some kind of technology about eight clicks north, sir," answered Hailey promptly.

"Fine. We'll head over there, and set up camp for the night while we look around. Taylor, you and I take point. Hailey and Jalen, watch our six." The other three acknowledged his command and spread out.

As they walked, Hailey threw a sidelong glance at Jalen, the team's linguist, and a Tok'ra. Since joining SG-23 less than a week ago, she hadn't had a chance to really get to know the Tok'ra, or her CO for that matter. The only member of the team who had made an effort to get to know her was Lieutenant Nicholas Taylor. The two of them had eaten breakfast together that morning and he had told her how Captain Evans had died in a firefight against a party of Jaffa two weeks previously. She understood how hard it was to accept a new team member after a loss. She had gone through it once with her last team. Being the only female didn't help much either, but she had expected that. On the bright side, at least they hadn't refused to accept a fourth member. After all, as had been pointed out by Colonel Carter, there was no rule that said SG teams _had_ to have four members. It was just the way things had always worked. The only three-man team was SG-1, and Hailey had a sneaking suspicion that it was more the fact that General O'Neill really didn't trust anyone with his old team, than any refusal on their part to accept a new member. But the truth was that no one could ever come close to them in terms of field experience. Colonel Carter had more experience than any other military personnel on the base apart from General O'Neill. Dr. Jackson had been going through the 'gate for at least as long, and had also spent almost two years living on Abydos. As for Teal'c, well he'd been using the 'gate network for years before he'd joined SG-1 on the first Chulak mission.

Hailey jerked herself out of her train of thought, smiling slightly. Sometimes she was taken as one of the worshippers of SG-1, since she new almost every detail of their seven years as a team, but the truth was, their mission reports had been the only thing that had kept her from going insane from boredom during her final year at the Academy. It had been tedious, but Colonel Carter had been right – as usual. With the Stargate program to look forward to, she had been able to keep her sarcastic comments to herself, and fly through at the top of all her classes. Also, seeing SG-1 in action, seeing how they worked and trusted each other had made a huge impression on her. It had given her a unique perspective on what the SGC was looking for in its officers. And she had made it.


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay another Hailey one here. It actually gets into some important plot points in this chapter.  
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**Chapter 2**

It was another forty minutes before SG-23 reached their target. When they got to where the energy signature was emanating from, all they found was a small stone hut with no apparent entrance. Major Nabb looked at it sceptically.

"This is what we're here for?" Hailey nodded. "All right, I suppose. Jalen, Hailey, do your scientist stuff. You've got about an hour before dark, so I'll need a primary assessment about whether it's worth staying here so I'll have something to tell the General when he checks in tomorrow. And I suggest you find something that could be used to blow stuff up." Hailey grinned, as did the other two. General O'Neill's love of 'honking big space guns' was well known on the base, and most of the scientists had found that if there was a hint of some kind of weapon wherever they were looking, they would almost always get as much time as they needed. "Taylor and I'll set up camp and get dinner started."

"Yes, sir"

"Very well" Hailey followed the Tok'ra over to the hut, and moved to the opposite side, looking for any writings, or anything that could be an entrance. She had only been at it a few minutes when the Tok'ra's voice interrupted.

"Lieutenant Hailey. I believe I have discovered an entrance." Hailey followed his voice to a section of the wall that was partially concealed by the trailing leaves of a tree.

"Found something?" she asked him.

"I believe so," he answered, pointing at some Ancient symbols.

"So it's Ancient technology. What does it say?"

"Only ours may enter," he translated.

"There's no way you can see to open it?" she asked.

"Not that I can see." Hailey looked at it closely, but the symbols that Jalen had translated seemed to be the only ones. She reached forward to brush away a strand of leaves, but suddenly leaped back and levelled her P-90. The second that her hand had touched the door, it had slid open.

"I believe that the mechanism reacts to you," observed the Tok'ra.

"Ya think?" asked Hailey sarcastically. The Tok'ra looked at her, confused. "Never mind. I guess the door doesn't like your symbiote."

"That seems likely." Hailey sighed, and shone her flashlight into the hut. To her surprise, it only penetrated a few feet before stopping abruptly. She looked through the opening in confusion, and then up at the sky.

"We should probably get back and report this. We can take a closer look tomorrow when we have more light."

"Very well." Hailey shook her head slightly. She still wasn't used to the Tok'ra's formal way of speaking. She brushed the doorway lightly again, and it slid shut.

"Let's go."

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_So you know what I want. It only takes a few seconds to press that little review button, and it means so much to me to know what you think. So even if you hate it, in which case I'm not sure why you're still reading, let me know._


	4. Chapter 4

_Short again, I know. Here's some Jack._

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**Chapter 3**

"Close the iris," Jack ordered, and made his way back to his office. Once there, he shoved a pile of paperwork off his chair, and sat down heavily. SG-23 had another 24 hours until their next check in; he'd given them that much time to get something worthwhile. And meanwhile, he had paperwork. He sighed. He hated paperwork. Maybe he would go down and talk to Carter. No. He cut off that train of thought. Pete. He could not go down and flirt with Carter. Not anymore. Maybe he'd go bug Spacemonkey. Yes, that was a much better idea.

Jack opened his door, and almost walked into Walter.

"Sir—"

"Walter, I'm taking a break. It can wait."

"Uh…yes, sir." As he walked away, Jack couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

oOo

Jack stepped into the elevator, and without thinking, punched sublevel 19. 'Daniel' he reminded himself. 'Going to bug Daniel' He punched the correct level and managed to make it to Daniel's lab without being stopped. He peered into the lab to see Daniel bent over about five books with his glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose.

"Daniel!" Much to Jack's disappointment, the younger man's glasses didn't go flying.

"Jack."

"Daniel."

"What do you want, Jack?" Daniel asked impatiently.

"Nothing!" protested Jack. "Can't I come visit when I'm bored?"

"Sam not in her lab?"

"I don't know," muttered Jack. Daniel looked up at him sharply.

"You're not still avoiding her, are you?"

"Who said anything about avoiding anyone?"

"Jack, you never come down here unless Sam's here or unless she's off base." Jack glared at Daniel. This wasn't going at all the way he had planned. Besides. He wasn't avoiding Carter. He was giving her space. "Now unless you're willing to give me an extra day to finish this…"

"Okay, okay. I'm going." Jack backed out, and Daniel sighed. He really wished that his two friends would at least stop avoiding each other. He didn't really like Pete that much either, but Sam could make her own decisions. Still. He hated the awkwardness between them. Maybe he should go talk to Sam about it. But it wouldn't really make a difference. She could be just as stubborn as Jack when it came to their relationship. Hopefully it would fix itself in time. At least they were better than they had been when Pete had first shown up.

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_One thing that I've always noticed; Jack has only ever called Daniel "Spacemonkey" once, yet in FanFics, he does at least half the time it seems. Just too good to resist I guess. As you can see I obviously couldn't. Please, please review. They are food, and you really don't want me to starve._


	5. Chapter 5

_A bit of subtle Pete bashing / ship. A fun chapter pretty much._

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**Chapter 4**

Sam was just about to run the final simulations on some piece of technology that SG-14 had brought back a few days ago, when her cell phone rang. She lunged for one of the pieces that she had knocked flying and managed to catch it right before it rolled off the edge of the lab bench. Cursing, she pulled out her cell and flipped it open, wondering who would be calling.

"Carter."

"Sam?" She sighed inaudibly. Why had she given Pete her work cell number? Oh yeah. Because she was going out with him.

"Hi, Pete."

"What's up? You sound stressed." More like irritated at being interrupted, she thought to herself.

"It's okay; I'm just kind of in the middle of something right now." She hoped he would take the hint.

"Oh, sorry. I was just wondering what you were planning on doing this weekend, cause I was thinking of taking the weekend off." Nope. Hadn't taken the hint.

"Look, Pete. I'm in the middle of something important. I'll see if I have anything on and call you tonight, okay?"

"Sure. I love you."

"Yeah." He hung up, and she sighed. Why did she feel so irritated when he was proposing to drive down to visit her this weekend? It was probably just because she had been in the middle of something. Yes. That was it.

Within a couple of minutes, she had forgotten all about the call, and was once again engrossed in her tests. A couple minutes later, she became aware of someone approaching the door to her lab. She looked up just as Teal'c walked in.

"Colonel Carter. I would like to request a favour of you."

"Sure Teal'c. What is it?" she asked, pushing away the part of her mind that was asking why Teal'c's interruption didn't bother her.

"O'Neill was bothering me while I was attempting to watch "Return of the Jedi". I would like to use your spare computer to finish it."

"Sure. No problem. I'm not using that one over there." She gestured at a computer that was sitting in the back corner, and tried to ignore the disappointment she felt that her friends were coming to her lab when they wanted to avoid General O'Neill. It was usually Daniel's lab, or Teal'c's quarters. Teal'c nodded his head in thanks, and installed himself in the back corner of her lab with his DVD and headphones. She went back to her simulations, not at all bothered by Teal'c's occasional laughter, and quoting. She was actually quite impressed that he knew the entire scene where Lea tells Han that Luke is her brother. Although it had always been one of her favourite scenes too.

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_So please review. If I get lots of reviews, and if I end up staying home this weekend, then I might post tomorrow. Otherwise I'll post Sunday. _


	6. Chapter 6

_Back to Hailey for a chapter. Enjoy._

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**Chapter 5**

Hailey watched as both Major Nabb, and Nick tried to open the door with no results. For some reason it only reacted to her. General O'Neill had given them 24 hours to find something worthwhile; otherwise they were to come home. Hailey intended to find something that she could 'play' with. Since the building seemed to like her best, Major Nabb indicated that she should take point. She scanned the room, but apart from being smaller than it appeared from the outside, there was nothing interesting. She checked her instruments to see that the energy signature was coming from beyond the far wall. She walked towards it, and felt the stones of the wall. As she touched one that had some Ancient writing on it, she felt some kind of current between her fingers and the wall, and a large set of rings materialized in the room.

A couple of seconds later, Hailey looked around. She was alone in a softly lit room covered in Ancient writing. Her radio crackled to life.

"Hailey!"

"I'm fine, sir. I think I got ringed into wherever the energy signature was emanating from."

"How did you get there?"

"There is a stone on the wall where I was standing. It had Ancient symbols on it."

"This is most likely the one," came Jalen's voice. "It indicates transportation."

"Try touching it," suggested Hailey. There were a few moments of silence, before major Nabb returned.

"It's not working. Not for any of us. Same for the door. You don't have the ATA gene, do you?"

"No, sir."

"Odd. Can you get back from there?"

"I think so."

"Good. Get some footage, and if there's anything that you can bring back, do so. We'll bring it back to the linguists to work on, and see if we can figure out why no one else can access it."

"Yes, sir." Hailey dropped her pack on the ground, and dug out the camera from one of the side pockets. She did a slow sweep of all the walls before closing it and replacing it in her back. The room had quite a few small objects, none of which looked familiar. She studied the objects before selecting a few that didn't seem too delicate or too large. As she gripped the first one, some sort of personal shield suddenly sprung up around her. She almost dropped the item in surprise. It couldn't be the ATA gene. The ATA gene wasn't supposed to work that way. You had to be actually willing something to happen. It didn't just happen when you touched something. Especially all of the weapons technology they had come across. She reached for the object while thinking 'do not turn on' to herself, and that seemed to work. In this way she transferred about half a dozen of the objects to her bag. Before closing the bag, she touched the shield item experimentally again, and the force shield materialized.

"Cool," she said to herself before closing up the pack. That done, she found the stone that seemed to correspond to the first she had touched, and returned to her team.

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_Well I was all worried that I had promised to update yesterday if I got enough posts, because I had no access to the internet until now. But I only got four reviews! Come on guys! 249 hits on the last chapter, and four reviews. I can understand the first chapter getting lots of hits and no reviews if people looked and didn't like, but the fifth? So the offer still stands. Review lots and you get a chapter tomorrow. A big thank you goes out to **froggy0319, scottiedog, mara-anni, ALIMOO1971, **and **Tessa** for reviewing multiple chapters. Gold stars to all of you. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Another chapter. Enjoy._

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**Chapter 6**

Jack sat at the head of the briefing room table, fiddling with a pen, and pretending to listen to SG-23's report. It didn't seem to be penetrating his brain. He blinked, and made himself focus on Nabb's words. He was saying something about how the Ancient stuff had only worked for Hailey. Jack perked up. That was interesting. He knew for a fact, that Hailey didn't have the ATA gene, but then why would it work for her, and not for the others? Jalen, he could understand. A lot of Ancient technology didn't like symbiotes in any form. It didn't distinguish between Tok'ra and Goa'uld.

"Did you bring anything back? I can see if I can activate it." They looked at him oddly for a second. Damn, he thought. Did Nabb keep going while I got lost in thought? Oh well. Nabb had recovered and finally answered.

"Yes, sir. Hailey brought some stuff back." She reached for the shield that she had brought with her, thinking that the General might want to see it. She handed it to him, and he turned it over in his hand a few times.

"It's a shield, sir" she supplied.

"Ah." He held it, and closed his eyes, willing it to activate. After a couple of seconds, Hailey saw the shield appear around him.

"Cool," he commented, putting the object down. He looked up to find the team still looking at him. Oh yeah. They expected him to say something other than 'cool'.

"Looks like Ancient stuff, but I'm no expert. Hailey, get Fraiser to check you for the gene again. Anything else?"

"No, sir," chorused the three military officers.

"Fine. Dismissed." He sighed as they left. He really didn't like all the briefings. At least when he had been a Colonel, he hadn't actually needed to listen. He had known what happened. He peered into the pile of paperwork that covered every surface of his office, and sighed. It would be another long night.

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_Getting better: 8 reviews on 198 hits. Better. So here is a chapter for you, a tidbit to tide you over until tomorrow. Review review review. _


	8. Chapter 8

_Another one. I'm sorry it's short, but I figured that I would post. It might sound a bit weird, but I really don't have much idea how Janet and Hailey would interact._

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**Chapter 7**

Janet looked at the results in amazement. Preliminary tests had shown that Lieutenant Hailey had no trace of the ATA gene, but experiments with some of the Ancient technology lying around the base proved that she did have it, and that it seemed to express itself incredibly strongly. Hailey seemed to activate any Ancient technology that she touched without trying. Janet had run secondary tests over the last couple of days, and though she had not been able to find the gene, she had found huge amounts of the distinctive proteins and enzymes produced by carriers.

Lieutenant Hailey walked in, and Janet waved her over.

"Well you definitely do have the gene, and it's expressed itself very strongly in you somehow." Janet could almost feel the younger woman's irritation. Hailey had known what Janet had discovered days ago, but Janet had insisted on finding it out herself. She continued. "I noticed that your file doesn't have any members of your family listed. I only ask because any siblings might have the gene too, and it could be very useful. You know how rare natural carriers are."

"You won't find much on my family. I was adopted. My adoptive mother died when I was ten, and I was in foster homes until I could get my own place. It was a closed adoption, so I don't know my birth mother." Janet was silent for a moment, but her curiosity finally overcame her.

"Lieutenant, would you have any objection to my looking her up, and seeing if I can trace where you got your gene from?" The younger woman hesitated, but finally shook her head.

"Thank you. Would you like to be kept informed?" She nodded, and left the infirmary. Janet turned to her computer, and got to work.

A couple hours later, she finally pulled up the adoption file. She scanned the first few lines, and stopped. Her jaw dropped as she looked at the name listed under 'Mother'.

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_You guys know the drill. Reviews make all writers happy, and it only takes a few seconds to type a word in the review box. If you write, you know how much reviews are appreciated._


	9. Chapter 9

_Wow. Maybe I should leave cliffhangers more often. It seems to generate lots of reviews. Here is a longer chapter for all you wonderful reviewers._

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**Chapter 8**

Sam stood up, and stretched. She had been in her lab since early that morning, and apart from a couple interruptions, had been working since then. Hailey had stopped by for a bit. Sam understood the younger woman's frustration. SG-23 had been taken off active duty until more was known about Hailey's unique expression of the ATA gene, and she was desperate for something to do. Sam had been glad to accept the help, and they had gotten a lot done in the three hours that Hailey had stayed, before Lieutenant Taylor had come to tell her they were back on active duty. She had left for the locker room, looking infinitely more cheerful.

Her phone rang, and she picked it up.

"Carter."

"Sam, can you come up to the infirmary. I need to show you something."

"Sure, Janet," answered Sam, confused. "I'll be there in a minute."

"Good. I'm in my office." Janet hung up, and Sam looked at the phone before hanging up. She saved what she was working on, and headed up to the infirmary.

"She knocked on Janet's door, and the doctor let her in.

"What is it?" Janet went over to the computer, and opened a file. Sam peered at it, taking in the adoption papers, with her name on them, and then Hailey's name.

"Hailey?"

"You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't, I…"

"What happened Sam?" Janet asked her friend. Sam sat down heavily in the other chair, and ran a hand through her hair.

"I was young. Too young. I got completely drunk one night, I don't even remember it. I didn't want to get an abortion, but I couldn't raise a child myself. I gave her up for adoption. Closed adoption. I never knew where she went or who she…Hailey…" Sam trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"I was looking this up to try to find a common ancestor that Hailey shares with one of the gene carriers. It could really help us track down more natural carriers, but I guess that you're a dead end. We know you don't have it. Unless you know…" Janet trailed off, not sure what to say.

"I don't know who the father is. I have no clue." Janet sighed.

"Well, it was worth a try. I guess I'll try running DNA comparisons with the natural carriers that we know. It might turn something up."

"Good luck with that. If you don't mind, I think I'm going to get back to my lab." The petite doctor nodded distractedly, and Sam headed back to her lab.

Once there, she locked the door, and sank onto one of the stools. For years, she had pushed the memories of those nine months to the back of her mind, but they were coming back to haunt her now. She hadn't wanted to abort the baby, but she had still been in school, and had no way of supporting a child. She'd still had her life in front of her, and hadn't wanted to give that up. Adoption was the only thing she could think of. And it had worked out fine, but since it was closed, she had never known her daughter, never seen herself in the genius cadet who was following in her footsteps. Or maybe she had seen herself, and simply not realized it. Maybe that was what had attracted her to the rebellious, sarcastic genius four years ago. She ran her hands through her hair, and jumped as her cell rang. She grabbed it, and shut it off. She was in no mood to talk to Pete right now.

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_REVIEW!_


	10. Chapter 10

_Well here you go. I'm sorry it's late. Am I the only one who stopped getting all my alerts a couple days ago? I'm hoping they're back on now._

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**Chapter 9**

Sam had finally gone back to her work, although she had been too distracted to get much done. She heard a knock on the door of her lab, and went to unlock it. Janet stood on the other side, a file in her hands.

"Well apparently not such a long shot as I thought. I found a match. You'll want to see this." Sam stepped aside to let Janet in, and the doctor handed her the file. She flipped it open, and her gaze zeroed in on the name at the top of the page. O'Neill, Jack Brigadier General.

Janet watched her friend process the information. She had suspected Sam's feelings for the General long before the Edora incident, but that had confirmed it for her. She had been pretty sure of his feelings for her from the Jolinar incident. The look in his eyes when she had told him that Jolinar was probably going to take Sam with her, and the relief when she came out of it alive. So the zat'arc incident hadn't surprised her, and if she hadn't known the two of them as well as she did, she would be surprised that they had managed to keep their feelings locked away for so long. But she had seen them, when they were off-duty; the team nights where they both let themselves relax a little bit, and vent some of the tension.

"I have to tell him, Sam." She looked up.

"I know."

"Look, if you would prefer to tell him…he has to know about it."

"You tell him, Janet." The doctor nodded, and left Sam to herself.

Sam sat down heavily, and stared blankly at the computer screen, thoughts racing through her head. She was still in that position when she heard a knock on the edge of the open door.

"Carter?" She looked up, to find him standing slightly awkwardly in the doorway.

"Janet told you, sir?"

"Yeah." They looked at each other for a minute, until Sam gestured for him to take a seat. He took one of the stools, and continued to look at her.

"Bit awkward," he finally commented.

"Ya think?" He grinned slightly at her use of the expression, and he could see her relax a bit too.

"So Hailey? How the hell did she get so short?" He was rewarded with a full smile this time.

"I'm not quite sure, sir, but I think I can pinpoint the sarcasm." He laughed, glad that she was able to joke around again.

"So we're good?"

"Yes, sir."

"Now if you don't mind, I should get some paperwork done before the miniyou gets back from P3 whatever." She grinned as he let himself out. Somehow, he always managed to make any situation humorous. Somehow he always got her to relax.

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_Come on guys! Lots of reviews please!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Here's another chapter. I'm really sorry its so short; I didn't realize how short when I was writing, so I will probably be updating more tomorrow instead of making you wait two days. _

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**Chapter 10**

Hailey knocked on the doorframe to Colonel Carter's lab.

"Colonel Carter?" The older woman looked up, and Hailey watched her eyes study her, looking for similarities that she hadn't seen before.

"I'm sorry, Hailey. Come in." She walked in, and took a stool.

"I talked to Doctor Fraiser." Colonel Carter nodded.

"I figured." There was an awkward silence.

"Colonel, no one else really has to know about this. I've been around long enough to know that it could cause you and the General some problems," she watched the colonel's expression change from surprise to resignation, and continued. "I've always wanted to make it on my own, and people might talk if they knew…" She trailed off, not sure how to explain, but saw that the other woman understood. Understood the stigmas that went with being a woman in the military.

"If that's what you want. It's your decision." Hailey nodded, glad that she had come to talk to the colonel first. She had worked with her before, and was much more comfortable with her than with General O'Neill.

"Thank you." She got up, and was about to leave when Colonel Carter stopped her.

"Lieutenant?" Hailey turned. "You've done well on your own."

"Thank you, ma'am."

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_REVIEW PLEASE!_


	12. Chapter 12

_Okay sorry, I knew I said I would post. I'm a huge liar, and I'm sorry, but please refrain from throwing rotten fruits and the like at me, since I am updating now. I know that some of you wanted a Jack/Hailey chapter, but I thought it would just be too awkward, since she already has a sort of hero worship thing for him, and he's her CO and all that, and you guys saw how short the chapter with Sam was, and Hailey knows Sam better. Anyways, with no more ado, the final chapter._

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**Chapter 11**

Jack had just sat down on his couch with a beer, and a new season of The Simpsons on DVD when there was a knock at the door. He pulled himself up, made his way to the door, and opened it up.

"Carter!" he said, incredibly surprised to find her on his doorstep on a Saturday night. They had always had a sort of non-verbal understanding that them being alone together would not be a good thing, and yet here she was. He finally noticed that it was pouring outside, and that she was dripping wet. "Uh…come on it. She stepped inside, and he searched a nearby closet for a blanket to give her. "Beer?"

"Thank you, sir." He dug in his fridge for another beer while she wrapped herself in the blanket on his couch. He handed her the beer, and chose one of the chairs.

"So what's up?"

"Pete proposed." He looked at her, stunned, wondering why she was telling him this. "I ended it.." Jack suddenly remembered to breathe again, and had to consciously stop himself from leaping for joy. "I couldn't pretend to love him any more, and I couldn't love him when…when I was in love with someone else." She looked at him cautiously, seeing how he would react. He was stunned. They stared at each other across the room, their eyes communicating in a rich language they had developed over the years. She suddenly shivered, and he realized that she was still in her soaking wet clothes.

"Carter, you're freezing! Why didn't you say something? Go throw those clothes in the dryer, and I'll get you something to wear." He stood up at the same time as her, and found himself standing only a couple of inches from her. Her scent filled his head, and his body responded. Get a hold of yourself Jack, he thought. You've been this close to her before. But there have always been people around, commented another portion of his mind. Their eyes met again, and she knew what he wanted to do. He reached up and brushed a wet strand of hair from her forehead, and she moved closer to him so that their bodies were almost touching. Her face was so close to his, that it was no effort at all to close the distance between their lips. Their bodies came together as the years of pent up passion burst. Her hands were doing wonderful things to him, and her shirt seemed to have somehow ended up on the floor. As they broke for air, he could only think of one thing to say.

"I guess we won't be needing that dryer after all."

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_Okay well the requisite shippy final chapter. You guys know what I want. Please review._


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